Valhalla
by Rogue1heretic
Summary: AU: Saw Guerra got the message from Galen Erso and was the one who broke Jyn out of the Wobani prison.


**IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY…..**

In a remote section of the universe, rebel fractions scramble to understand a looming danger undergoing the transition between myth and reality.

Rumors spread of a defected imperial pilot and a scientist named Galen Erso.

Time is of the essence and choices must be made.

Saw Guerra gets to her first. Despite years without contact, he maintains a semi-awareness of his adopted daughter's whereabouts.

Jyn Erso. Daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso. Current occupant of a Wobani prison camp.

She tries to escape twice. Once on Wobani and the other on Jedah. She blames the first failure on muscles slowed by captivity. The second is due to a little girl caught in the middle of a guerrilla attack by Saw's men on a group of Stormtroopers. She picks up two strays along the way.

Part of her is intrigued by the blind man who asks about her mother's necklace and his lurking companion. Another side of her wonders what they want from her. Nobody helps anyone out of the goodness of their heart anymore.

She ignores the image of a little girl crying in the streets which flashes across her memory.

The message from her father is like a knife in the heart. The heat from the Death Star serves to cauterize the wound.

She makes it out with the one person that can tell her more about the man she hasn't seen since she was 8 years old. At least… well… at least if Bor Gullet hasn't completely destroyed his mind anyway.

The blind man and his partner continue to tag along. She barely acknowledges their presence, but neither seems deterred by the lack of gratitude for helping her move a barely functioning and rambling imperial pilot unto the last remaining ship off the planet.

It isn't long before their shuttle gets caught in a tractor beam. It comes as no surprise to her. She never gets to choose where she ends up next – always being pushed or pulled in one direction or another.

This time she ends up on Yavin IV in front of the highest council of the Rebel Alliance.

 **Meanwhile….**

Captain Cassian Andor likes to think that his greatest asset is patience. It sounds better than an ability to disassociate his mind from the actions of his flesh.

Once he deliver's Tivik's message to Draven, there is nothing to do but wait. Intelligence is slow when you aren't the one actively seeking it.

Two reports are sent within the following 48 hours.

Report 1: Jyn Erso is missing from the Wobani Death camp. He frowns at that. It is a waste of all the effort he put into finding the girl, confirming her identity, determining the best method the alliance could use to ensure her cooperation, sending in the tip which led to her capture on Tatooine, and officially securing her position on Wobani for the foreseeable future.

Report 2: The defected imperial pilot is named Bodhi Rook. Transcripts list him making shuttle runs between Jedha and Eadu for the last 2 years.

Jedha is Saw Guerra territory. Without Jyn Erso, the likelihood of getting to Saw Guerra just went from 60% to 5% - according to K2S0 anyway.

The council sends him to Eadu. It is a known hub of scientific research for the Empire. The terrain is too rocky for K2SO to join him, so Cassian tells K2SO to guard the ship while he investigates their surroundings.

He sets up watch on a cliff that overlooks a shuttle depot - his gun in sniper position just as a precaution. The scene below is… difficult to understand.

Galen Erso is there. He knows because of the amount of time he spent mesmerizing Jyn Erso's face. The only thing the alliance gave him to confirm her identity was a picture of Lyra Erso. He spent hours comparing the eyes, nose, and hairline of the mother's face to her daughter. In the end, it was a 5 second glance of the Kyber Crystal around Jyn Erso's neck that finalized his decision.

Galen Erso had his daughter's eyes. Or rather, she had her father's eyes… and nose… and many other traits that made him easy to identify.

Cassian has K2SO patch him through to Draven. Void of emotion, he informs Draven of Galen and several other scientists being matched by gunpoint in front of a man in white. Cassian has a vague idea of the man's importance, but Draven must know more. The General says he is sending a squadron out to bomb the facility and eliminate targets. There are too many at this point for Cassian to kill them all before being shut down.

Shut down – not escape. There is a distinct difference. Shut down means captured. Maybe killed. Maybe even silenced by the pill sown into the collar of his shirt.

Cassian remains in positon and keeps count of the time for the squadron's arrival in his head. It's a practical use of time. More importantly, it's a distraction until the squadron arrives. Once it does, his mission is to confirm the elimination of Galen Erso. In other words, put a shot in his head for good measure.

What happens next takes him by surprise. Galen Erso, a man previously standing at attention behind the man in white, changes position and looks like a man resigned to his sins. Cassian recognizes it as his own reflection in a mirror.

Cassian hesitates – unable to tell Draven anything other than "Erso has broken rank".

He estimates the squadron incoming at less than a minute out.

The response is immediate: "Orders stand."

The bombs hit. Everything turns to chaos below, but Cassian watches as storm troopers rush to protect the man in white. He contemplates taking a shot at the man then and there, however the primary target is Erso. It has been since they handed him a file with a picture of the man's late wife.

Searching the bodies on the ground, Cassian finds Galen. The man is lying still except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Cassian takes the shot.

The return to base is uneventful.

He seeks out Draven and then everything goes to shit.

Because Jyn Erso is there.

Because there is a hologram of her father giving proof that the man was innocent… or as innocent as someone equivalent to Cassian himself.

Because she looks and him and sees him for the first time.

Because he sees the fire in her eyes and knows this moment will come back to haunt him.

He confirms General Draven's report that the man in white – now known as Orson Krennic – shot Galen Erso dead before the rebel alliance sent in a squadron to level the facility.

He wishes it were true.


End file.
